Bellflowers
by IAmStoryteller
Summary: Aubrey Waters of Rayaka, Magna's little sister of sorts, joins the Magic Knights; and she keeps running into the annoying Heart Prince Jules. PART 3 Gladiolus Verse (Black Clover Canon Divergent AU) (Note: You should read Part 1 and 2 prior to reading Part 3 or you will be lost)
1. Chapter 1

Hi again! This is one of the three sequels to Gladiolus.

Yes, I know, it's featuring Original Characters, so a lot of people may not read this story in comparison to the other installments which will featuring Black Clover characters more. I just really wanted to write the story, even if no one reads it. I think it's a story worth telling and fits in the vein of the themes of Black Clover.

* * *

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Forsaken Realm**  
**Rayaka**  
**One Month after Family Day**  
**Day of the Magic Knights' Entrance Exam**

Today was the day her life changed. Aubrey Waters had been waiting for this day since she was a little girl. She was grateful that she just turned 15 three months ago, which gave her enough time to get a few spells and train in time for the Magic Knights' Exam. Her magic affinity was sand, not a super powerful affinity in her opinion and definitely not flashy like fire or water, and her mana was average especially for someone in the Forsaken Realm, but she was a hard-worker. Since her honorary big brother, Magna, became a Magic Knight, Aubrey knew that she was going to be able to do it too.

"Yer all jittery, kiddo," said Miss Shula, Magna's mom. Miss Shula and Aubrey's cantankerous grandmother, Aru, were standing in the town center waiting for Aubrey's ride to the Capital. Due to the travel bans, Aubrey and the other examinees for the Magic Knights' Exam had be picked up by a member of the Magic Knights. She knew that Big Bro Magna and Mr. Finral were coming to pick her up because Miss Shula was friends with the Wizard King these days.

"I'm just excited," said Aubrey, hopping up and down in place. She had so much excess energy. Miss Shula stopped from her bouncing off. Aubrey let Miss Shula fix her dirty blond hair that came undone from her ponytail.

"Don't get your hopes up, Aubrey," said Grandma Aru, arms crossed and scowl on her face. Since Aubrey's parents traveled to another bigger town nearby every day for work, Aubrey was raised by Grandma Aru. "I'll have plenty of chores for you when you come home cryin' that you failed."

Aubrey didn't respond. She found it was easier to not argue with her grandmother about anything. As long as Aubrey did all her chores, schoolwork, went to Church on Sundays and did her three-hours at the grocery in the afternoon, Aubrey was able to do whatever else she wanted without much complaint from Grandma Aru. It was how she found time to train her magic.

Miss Shula frowned at Aubrey's grandma and said, with enough respect in her voice not to sound rude. "Now, Misses Aru, Aubrey's been working real hard to take the exams since she's been able to walk."

Grandma Aru cut off Miss Shula and snapped, "Just because your son somehow got into one of the squads doesn't mean Aubrey has a chance. She's small for her age and her magic is nothing special."

Aubrey tuned her grandmother out when she got in her beast mode, but she saw that Miss Shula was getting angrier and angrier. "Ah, Miss Shula! Do you think that Big Bro and Mr. Finral are gonna be late?"

"Nah, they'd better not be," said Miss Shula, attention diverted from chewing out beast mode Grandma Aru. "This is their damn punishment for the stunt they pulled months ago, those brat."

On cue, a spatial magic portal opened up and out stepped was Big Bro Magna and Mr. Finral. Aubrey was super happy to see them both again. The Black Bull members stopped by a lot when they were doing nearby missions to visit Miss Shula—Aubrey had met them all except Captain Yami, Mr. Henry, and their wanderer-at-heart Mr. Zora.

"Big Bro!"

"Hey, Little Aubrey. You ready to kick some ass today?!" Big Bro Magna gave her a big bear hug and picked her up. His hugs were always warm due to his magical affinity.

"You bet," said Aubrey, pumped up at the encouragement from her Big Bro. "Hiya, Mr. Finral!"

"Good luck today, Aubrey," said Mr. Finral, kindly. "We had better get going, we need to get her on that line for check-in immediately."

Big Bro Magna put her down on the ground and gave her an appraising look. "You look ready! Great, say goodbye to Misses Aru and my Ma."

Aubrey gave Miss Shula a hug and quickly hugged her grandmother. "See you soon!"

"Give it your all," cheered Miss Shula.

"I'll have supper ready," said Grandma Aru, bluntly.

Aubrey ignored the statement, as Magna guided her to the new portal that Finral opened for them. She walked through the portal, one more step to her goal.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Capital**  
**Magic Knights' Headquarters—the Stadium**  
**Day of the Magic Knights' Entrance Exam**

"Wow, wow," said Aubrey, once she was out of the portal. It was her first time outside of Rayaka. The Capital was huge! There were so many buildings. And there were so many fancily dressed people. She wondered why kind of places were in the stores. There was just so much to see. When she got into the Magic Knights, she was going to see so many places, but the first sight of Clover's Capital was going to be in her head for the rest of her life.

Big Bro Magna and Mr. Finral were chuckling at her. Big Bro Magna said, "I know. It's pretty wild, right? But you have time to gawk later."

Aubrey almost forgot about the Magic Knights' Exams by being caught up in the excitement. "Oh, right! Where do I have to go?"

Finral took out some papers from his side pouch. "This is your paperwork that you'll give to the person at the desk in front. He'll assign you a number and then, you just wait for instructions." He handed them to her. "Don't lose them."

"I won't," said Aubrey, realizing that this was the application to enter the Magic Knights' Exam that every town in the kingdom received months ago. The travel ban for non-Magic Knights or non-nobility was annoying. She clutched the papers.

"That's the line, kiddo," said Magna, pointing to the string of 15-17 years who were lined up, leading to the Magic Knights' Stadium, where the Exams always took place from what Aubrey had been told. "Good luck, Little Aubrey. Whatever happens, I'm proud of you."

Aubrey grinned, trying not to tear up. "Thanks!"

Since they had to leave to handle their Magic Knight duties, Aubrey was left in the line. There were a lot of examinees. Aubrey had been prepared for some stiff competition, as the Magic Knights were an elite military force. Others around her age and a bit older lined up behind her too. Thankfully, Aubrey was prepared for a long wait, as she didn't know the exact details about the Exam.

Like Big Bro Magna, Aubrey enjoyed adventure stories. Church may have been boring, but the nuns and the priests did teach everyone how to read and write. Aubrey's handwriting was passable at best, but Aubrey loved reading. Big Bro Magna sent her books all the time that she stored at Miss Shula's house because Grandma Aru didn't want "that nonsense cluttering up the house." She only brought her favorite series with her, because she knew from Big Bro that whatever squad picked her, she was going right to their headquarters to get settled. While she waited in her life, she read some chapters in the latest installment of her favorite series The Adventures of Lady Astoria, written by Professor Viola Lunette.

She got a 1/3rd of the way through the book by the time she reached the table where a blond haired serious-looking man sat.

"Next! State your name."

Aubrey hurried to the table. She gave him the paperwork. "I'm Aubrey Waters, sir."

"And I'm Marx, the advisor to the Wizard King. You are number 336," said Marx, handing her a paper with her number on it. "Follow the others to the waiting area and then you'll get your instructions. Next! State your name."

Aubrey moved to where she saw everyone else headed. She followed quietly. Aubrey knew she wasn't particularly shy but she grew up in a small village where everyone knew each other and it was her first time in such a big place. In her hurried excitement, she almost ran into another girl, but Aubrey stopped herself from slamming into the other girl just in time.

The other girl had long bright blonde hair that had a shade of red to it and grey eyes. She sneered. "Watch it, peasant."

Aubrey recoiled quickly, apologized stiffly and ran off with the rest of the crowd. Big Bro Magna did warn her that some royal and noble kids didn't know how to talk politely to other people. He also told her that they weren't all like that, but due to their status, they thought they were better than everyone else.

Granted, Aubrey should have shouted at the other girl in her own defense, but the last thing she needed was to anger a royal before the exams even started.

She reached area where everyone was bunched together. Aubrey didn't like the idea of the crowded space, but she focused her attention to the viewing seats where the Captains and their Vice-Captains sat already. Aubrey spotted Mr. Finral standing next to Captain Yami (he was just as the rest of the Black Bulls described).

Aubrey had to stop herself from gasping because she saw Captain Charlotte Roselei and Captain Dorothy Unsworth, two of her favorite Magic Knight Captains. Captain Charlotte was in mid-conversation with what looked her Vice-Captain and younger sister. Captain Dorothy was sleeping, but she had her Vice-Captain Kirsch Vermillion at her side (he was kind of blindingly pretty). The Blue Rose and the Coral Peacocks were two of the squads that she hoped chose her. She didn't want to join the Black Bulls because she knew them and all of them would be too overprotective.

And as she stood there, her nerves finally were on edge, surrounded by a bunch of other hopeful Magic Knights. Was she ready? Did she train enough? Did Grandma Aru have a point about her dreaming outside the realm of possibility? She was the shortest person here, oh my God, what was she thinking?

"Stop," she whispered to herself.

She breathed in and out, calming herself down from panicking.

Thankfully, once it seemed everyone was checked in, the Wizard King stood from his seat. Normally, she heard that the Wizard King didn't make appearances at the Exams, but neither did the King of the Clover Kingdom, who was also sitting in a special seat.

"I thank you all for coming," said Lord Fuegoleon. "Today I hope we find the next group of Magic Knights to protect the Clover Kingdom from its enemies, inside and out. I wish all of you good luck. Royal Knights Captain Asta will explain the exam rules for you."

Aubrey smiled when she saw Asta. Asta was so cool; he taught her some good training tips to fight without magic.

"Right! Thanks, Captain, I mean, Lord Fuegoleon," said Asta, grinning. And everyone heard him because he was so naturally loud. Maybe that was why he was chosen to do the announcing. "We have 402 applicants, so the Exams will be in two rounds. The first round you will show us your best spell while also defending yourself against an "attacker." If you pass that round, the second round will be one-on-one fights amongst the remaining applicants. Losing your match doesn't immediately disqualify you, however! So do your best. Once those two rounds are done, you'll come before us and you either will be picked by one of the Captains or not. Applicant #1 step forward and let's begin!"

Aubrey nearly groaned. She had another long wait of ahead of her, but as she watched the first applicant nearly get electrocuted, it was probably a good thing to not go first. It gave her advantage to see what the other applicants had to face, so she'd be able to think about what she was going to do to impress the Captains.

And it helped that Aubrey recognized the magic affinities of all of the Black Bulls, except Asta, Mr. Finral and Captain Yami (who were watching). She felt bad for the applicants who got stuck dodging Big Bro Magna's fire balls and Luck's lightning. They didn't know the meaning of "going easy."

Eventually, they got to her number (noticeably some people left after watching the first 10 people fail). Aubrey stepped forward. She had her grimoire at the ready. In order to quicken her attacks, her side pouches were filled with sand, since drawing sand from the ground took too much time for her at the moment. She wondered which one of the Black Bulls she was going to have dodge.

Nothing happened for a few minutes and Aubrey started to get nervous, when she smelled something terrible.

Stink bugs.

"The attacker" was Mr. Zora. She had never met him, but she heard the stories. He had trap magic and use of stink bugs to irritate his enemies. Aubrey didn't move on purpose because Mr. Zora would have laid traps down and she activated one of the magic circles it was all over.

While she stood still, she let the sand from her pouches drip down to the ground, while she performed her best defensive spell in the meantime. **"Sand Magic: Sand Shield!"**

A wall of appeared around her to encircle her from a 360 degree angle attack, but not from above (it was a work in progress her defense) and she couldn't see what was happening. The sand she let go from her pouches she was making it travel through the ground. The plan was have it activate the traps.

Thankfully, she heard several large cracks.

And she heard Big Bro Magna screaming from wherever he was, "Damnit, Zora! That's too much even for us!" Aubrey flushed.

"Pass," declared Fuegoleon, nodding.

Aubrey let out a sigh of relief, deactivating her shield, remembering to get some sand in her pouches for her one-on-one match.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Capital**  
**Magic Knights' Headquarters—the Stadium**  
**Day of the Magic Knights' Entrance Exam**

"Look at all the different kinds of magic, Jules! Isn't it grand," said Uncle Julius, with stars in his eyes at watching the display. "I really like some of those spells."

Jules (Prince Julian Eldan Theodore Nova Heart I, the Crown Prince of the Heart Kingdom) rolled his eyes and replied as deadpan as possible, "Thrilling."

"Don't be like that," said Julius. "Isn't nice of Fuegoleon to let you, the heir to the Heart Kingdom, watch the Magic Knights' Exams? Con did really well, don't you think?"

"Yeah, of course, he did," said Jules, running his hands through his black hair out of nervousness for his cousin.

He and his godfather/surrogate uncle Julius Novachrono, who had the body of a 16-year-old but the mind of a 45-year-old man, were sitting in one of the additionally viewing balconies. They were close enough to watch and hear but far enough that the examinees didn't see them. The only reason why Jules spent the last two months in the Clover Kingdom was to help his cousin Con, the Crown Prince of the Clover Kingdom, to train for the Magic Knights' Entrance Exam.

While Jules didn't mind the staying in the Clover Kingdom, as everyone was really nice and helpful to him especially in the Purple Orcas (the squad where he was staying), Jules found that he really missed the Heart Kingdom. Maybe it was just growing up in a kingdom with ample access to natural magic from the earth itself but Jules felt stifled here in Clover. He suspected that if he had been in Spade or Diamond he might feel even worse as those two kingdoms used unnatural means to gain more mana. He also missed his mother and he was worried about her like always. But Jules was there for Con's sake. He promised.

Con was his favorite cousin and he knew he shouldn't play favorites. Jules had a number of cousins through his father's side of the family and he had one cousin from his mother's brother (Cousin Lolopechka was alright, to be fair, but she was a few years older than him and treated him like a kid). Jules found his Kira Clover cousins to be spoiled brats, all but his cousin Con.

"There are some really talented young people," said Uncle Julius, nodding.

"I still don't understand why Clover just doesn't take them all," said Jules, crossing his arms, watching the last person of the first part of the exam fail. "Heart Kingdom has the Army for anyone who wants to join; it's also how to combat poverty and give people skills that don't necessarily involve fighting. The Special Forces are exactly that—the specialized force, depending on the level of mana and skills in a wizard."

Uncle Julius made a disgruntled sound. Jules was standing close enough to hear his godfather mutter under his breathe, "Because they've got damn ignorant and biased fools running the Magic Parliament."

Jules grinned.

Then, they heard Asta say/yell, "Looks like we've got 56 applicants left! Now, we're going to one-on-one matches! While we set up the spell to randomly pick the matchups, please see the medics to restore your mana."

"He's really good at this shouting instructions at everyone," said Uncle Julius, smiling.

"Mr. Asta is the loudest person I've ever met," said Jules. Asta was a really interesting guy. Jules never met anyone without any magic whatsoever. Not to mention, Asta was using the powers of the anti-magic demon without much consequences. Asta was impressive. "From the 56 left, how many will be asked to join a squad?"

"Generally, the passing rate every exam ranges between five-to-fifteen percent depending on the pool of applicants. Naturally, Prince Con and Princess Theodora will automatically in squads, but this is just for show," said his uncle. "I suspect we'll be on the higher end this time around, so about 9 or 10 new Magic Knights."

Jules shook his head. "Immediately discounting my two cousins, that's only 8 new ones. That's pretty foolish."

"Oh, no," said Julius, suddenly looking at the one-on-one board that appeared above the Magic Knight Captains. "See the last matchup, Jules?"

Jules's stomach dropped at the names. The last match would be Constantine Kira Clover and Theodora Kira Clover. Clearly, it was on purpose to have the last match between the Prince and Princess of Clover—it was too obvious. Jules and Con trained enough but Jules didn't know if Con was quite up for fighting his twin sister. Theodora was intense and angry all the time.

"If worse comes to worse, they'll stop the match," said Julius, not convinced that it'll go well.

"I'll stop the match," said Jules, feeling rather overprotective.

"Well, let's see. First match should be interesting," replied Julius, "a sand affinity user and a water affinity user! What a neat match."

Jules watched as the small village girl with sand magic and the daughter of a merchant with water magic go to the center of the field for their match. The water wizard had more mana, but the sand wizard was more innovative, if her earlier display was any indication. Jules leaned against the railing and watched.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Capital**  
**Magic Knights' Headquarters—the Stadium**  
**Day of the Magic Knights' Exam**

Once Aubrey saw the matchup against the water wizard girl, she had a plan. Water against sand should win, but Aubrey learned about type advantages and disadvantages from Miss Shula when she was seven. She knew a few ways to combat magic that went against her magic affinity, especially after getting a few pointers from Lady Noelle. Aubrey was pumped after passing the first round in the exams, so she had a boost of confidence going into the match.

"Let's have a good match," said Aubrey, to the other girl. The other girl with blue-tinted black hair and blue eyes, who dressed in much nicer clothes than she had ever owned, blankly looked at her like Aubrey didn't even exist. This was the second girl to look right through her like Aubrey was an ant. Making friends was going to be hard in the Magic Knights.

"Match begin," shouted Asta.

The water wizard moved first, shouting, **"Water Magic: Titan's Tidal Wave!"**

Most affinities users, Aubrey noticed, who had one of the four basic affinities (i.e. earth, fire, water, and wind) were really good at big flashy moves. Only the exceptional wizards were able to have such mastery over the big elements.

A torrent of water came rushing towards Aubrey. **"Sand Magic: Sand Surfer!"** This was one of Aubrey's newest spells, but it let Aubrey create a disk of sand and allow her to go airborne. She was able to dodge the water.

The other girl seemed surprised. **"Water Magic: Bullet Barrage!"**

Aubrey was ready for that type of an attack. After all, her Big Bro Magna had a similar move. While she dodged the water balls in the air with her sand surfer spell, she dripped sand out of her pouches for her next move.

Thankfully, the water blue girl seemed to be more worried about winning fast and not too much about accuracy.

She needed about five minutes for her next spell to work, so she zipped through the air, slightly getting wet from the blow back of the other girl's water magic.

"**Water Magic: Bullet Barrage Extreme!"**

"Nuggets," she cursed, as even more water balls came careening towards her. She told herself to concentrate, her next spell always took too long to get ready. Aubrey took a page out of her Big Bro's playbook, and taunted, "Is that all you got?!"

More water came towards her, as her opponent got frustrated. Aubrey was lucky that she was so tiny and her speed on the surfer was really quick.

Estimating that she didn't have more time, she had to do her last move before she ran out of mana. **"Sand Magic: Sand Serpent!"**

A medium-sized sand serpent burst from below her enemy, swallowing her whole, but after a few minutes spit the girl out, who was now unconscious from the brief lack of oxygen in the pit of sand serpent's stomach. Aubrey flew herself to the ground and dispelled her sand surfer and sand serpent spells.

She felt her body tire from the amount of mana she used to win the match. She promptly sat on the ground, exhausted.

"Victor of Match 1: Aubrey Waters of Rayaka," called Lord Fuegoleon.

Within moments, she and her opponent (whose name turned out to be Maylan Naylor) were fetched off the field by one of the medics, a Magic Knight by the name of Mimosa Vermillion. Off to the side, both girls were getting healed up, while the next match was called.

Maylan finally said something to Aubrey, "Good match." It was grudgingly said but Aubrey would take it.

Aubrey smiled. "Thanks. You too!"

The matches went on and things got a bit monotonous. Some of her mana was back after a good healing from Lady Mimosa. She found herself standing next to Maylan watching the other prospective Magic Knights. Maylan muttered under her breathe about what they were doing wrong or right, so Aubrey just listened.

Eventually, Match 28 was called. It was a nervous-looking vermillion haired boy and the girl Aubrey almost run into earlier. The two kind of looked alike and Aubrey instinctively had a bad feeling.

The match began and it seemed both had light magic.

"What a strange match-up," muttered Maylan.

"Yeah," agreed Aubrey, getting more worried as the boy (Constantine that was his name, she thought) gave it his all to go on the offensive against the girl (Theodora, maybe that was her name). Aubrey was really bad at names until she got to know people. However, it badly because the girl was brutal.

She looked up at the Magic Knight Captains and Vice-Captains, who were just watching with interest at the match. None of them looked ready to move, even Asta or Mr. Finral.

Aubrey bit her bottom lip.

Should she stop the beat-down of that poor boy and risk angering the captains?

It shouldn't even be a question, thought Aubrey to herself, as she moved towards the field to help.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Capital**  
**Magic Knights' Headquarters—the Stadium**  
**Day of the Magic Knights' Exam**

It devolved faster than Jules expected. Theodora got a lot stronger than he or Con had anticipated. Her drive to be seen as the best Kira Clover was really giving her an edge. Thankfully, the small girl with sand magic jumped forward when it looked like Con was about to get skewered by Theodora's light dagger spell. She had her sand shield up, barely stopping most of the light daggers, but she just had a big fight earlier.

"Go ahead," said Uncle Julius, watching Jules not jump into stop it. "Oh, it looks like the other one is getting involved." Jules watched merchant water girl throw a water ball at Theodora to try to distract her or cool her down.

Jules opened his grimoire and said, **"Mist Magic: Shimmering Light."** He jumped over the balcony banister and ran towards the field. His shimmering light spell allowed him to almost be invisible (it's supposed to make him completely invisible to the naked eye, but he's still working on it). He was unseen enough to manage to catch soaking-wet Theodora off-guard.

Jules pounced on her, grabbing her hands and putting them behind her back. "That's enough, Theodora!"

"Get off me, you Heart wimp," snarled Theodora Kira Clover, struggling against Jules' hold. He knew how to hold someone from fighting back after suffering in his training against the men and women of the Heart Kingdom's Special Forces.

"Calm yourself, cousin, "said Jules, sternly, as possible. He released his mist magic, while the sand girl and water girl both released their magics. "You went too far."

Then, Jules let her go. Con was shaking like a twig in a rainstorm on the ground with the two girls who helped him. Jules went over to them, while Theodora stalked off somewhere.

"Con, can you stand," asked Jules. Con didn't respond.

"I think he's mostly fine," muttered the water girl, her hair was more blue than black up close. "Just in shock from almost dying. We should get him to Lady Mimosa."

"Let's give him a few minutes, Maylan," said the sand girl, who had warm brown eyes. The two weren't touching Con, but kneeling by him in case he needed something.

Jules sighed. "Con, I'm gonna touch you and help you stand. We'll get you to Lady Mimosa to check you over, okay?"

Con nodded, so Jules took his cousin's arm with two hands and helped him up. Con's legs almost gave out where Jules was not supporting him but sand girl took Con's other arm to steady him. It was kind of weird having someone so short do it, but it was help.

"This is Con Kira Clover. I'm Jules Nova Heart. And you are?"

"Aubrey Waters," replied the brown-eyed girl, Aubrey. "She's Maylan Naylor." Aubrey gestured to the blue-and-black-haired girl, Maylan, who was already talking to Lady Mimosa.

"Thank you for helping him out," said Jules, honestly.

"It's no problem," said Aubrey.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Capital**  
**Magic Knights' Headquarters—the Stadium**  
**Day of the Magic Knights' Exam**

Aubrey was trying not to freak out because Maylan just told her that the fight Aubrey just interrupted was between Crown Prince Constantine and Princess Theodora, (AKA Clover's Prince and Princess). The boy who stopped Princess Theodora's rampage was the Crown Prince of the Heart Kingdom, who had been visiting Clover to spend time with his cousins. She hoped she didn't mess up her chances at joining the Magic Knights by interfering with a royal matter.

"You're all good, Prince Con," said Lady Mimosa, giving him a kind smile and patting his head.

"Thank you, milady," said Prince Con, softly. He turned to look at Aubrey and Maylan, who both were standing awkwardly off to the side as not to get in the way. "Thank you both for aiding me. It was unnecessary but thank you."

"Thanks to you all," said Jules. Prince Jules was a lot more confident than his cousin. (He was kind of handsome this Heart Prince, Aubrey thought briefly before shutting that thought down immediately). The Heart Prince respectfully nodded at them. "I'll take him back home. Let's go, Cousin."

"Okay, Cousin Jules," replied Con, more comfortable talking to his cousin than two strange girls. The two Princes walked off, with the Heart Prince walking protectively by the Clover Prince.

Lady Mimosa giggled. "They're both such good boys. Oh, but! Miss Aubrey, Miss Maylan, you need to get to the field, they'll be calling the numbers and choosing new Magic Knights shortly."

Once Lady Mimosa said it, everyone heard Asta declaring that the remaining 54 examinees come to the field and wait for their number to be called to be given their final assessment by the Magic Knight Captains. Aubrey, followed by Maylan, rushed to the fields.

"Good luck, Maylan," said Aubrey.

"You too," said Maylan, nodding.

Aubrey was going to be one of the last few to be called due to her high number. She noted that it was possible that Prince Con and Princess Theodora were already given their choice of squads and only did the Exams to show off their magic spells. Aubrey watched as a few people weren't chosen at all until Maylan (she was number 47) was called before the Captains.

She crossed her fingers for her opponent/rival/maybe friend, as Maylan got offers from the Golden Dawn Captain Yuno, the Blue Rose Captain Charlotte, and the Crimson Lions Captain Mereoleona. Aubrey was impressed. Maylan may have lost the match but her water magic was quite impressive.

Naturally, after knowing Maylan for a couple of hours, Aubrey knew what squad she was going to pick.

"I chose the Golden Dawn," said Maylan. Captain Yuno stared down at the girl impassively and she stared back.

Aubrey was happy for Maylan. Certainly, she'd be able to hone her skills well in the Golden Dawn. Maylan was shuffled off to where Lady Mimosa (who was the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn, actually) waited. Now, all Aubrey had to do was wait her turn.

She noted that many who won their matches weren't necessarily picked for a squad. Less people were chosen than Aubrey expected, but it was the Magic Knights, only the best should be picked amongst prospective wizards (and witches). But she was starting to get nervous again. Maybe, Grandma Aru was right and this was a mistake.

"Number 336 Aubrey Waters, please step forward," called Asta. Aubrey moved to the center to stare up at the Captains.

The Wizard King, Lord Fuegoleon, stated, "Who will want her for their squad?"

It was the longest minute of her life at that moment, as the hands of Captain Charlotte, Captain Yami, Captain Kaiser, and Captain Dorothy (who was still sleeping) raised their hands.

"Four good choices," said Lord Fuegoleon, nodding. "And which squad will you pick, Aubrey Waters?"

Breathing in deeply and letting it out, Aubrey immediately knocked off the Black Bulls for obvious reasons. Her dream squad was the Blue Rose squad. Her second choice was always the Coral Peacocks. The Purple Orcas was a squad that hadn't even been on her radar, but she always heard decent things about the squad since Captain Kaiser took it over.

She mulled it over for a few minutes.

"I choose…"

_Ch. End_


	2. Chapter 2

Ah, so I knew this wasn't going to be super popular, which is fine because this is part of the larger story of this AU. NBD

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**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Bantam Towne**  
**Purple Orcas Headquarters**  
**Brownstone 11**  
**A couple of hours after the Magic Knights Entrance Exams**

"Now that you've got all the proper paperwork out of the way with the Captain, this will be your new home while you're a member of the Purple Orcas," explained the nice Vice-Captain of the Purple Orcas, Erica Putnam. The white hair and black eyes of her new Vice-Captain were a bit of a shock to Aubrey as most of the people she had seen usually had shades of brown and black hair. "Your room is your own to do whatever you'd like. Paint it, decorate it as you will, but please don't destroy it. Keep it clean."

"Of course, Vice-Captain," squeaked Aubrey, who couldn't believe that she was actually a Magic Knight. It was surely something to wrap her head around, and that her grandmother would be shocked beyond belief. She chose the Purple Orcas because the other choices had been far more intimidating in the end to her—what if Captain Charlotte and Captain Dorothy wound up being disappointed in her? Aubrey wouldn't be able to handle it. Captain Kaiser looked like a kind man and she only heard good things about the squad since he took it over from the previous captain. She thought it was a good choice.

"You'll be sharing a brownstone with Edward Kairos, he's only a little older than you and will be your go-to-person if I'm not available," explained Vice-Captain Erica. "Prince Jules of Heart is a guest with us, as Edward saved the Heart Queen's life on a mission a while back, so he's here temporarily. If I were you, I'd use Prince Jules as a resource as he is a member of the Heart Kingdom's Special Forces. Lastly, Prince Con will be a member of our squad. He's basically your partner from now on until you both move up in rank."

Aubrey felt a little nervous. She knew that she had her own room, but she was going to be sharing the house with two sixteen-year-old boys and a fifteen-year-old boy. Not to mention that two of the boys were both Princes?! Aubrey didn't know if she should be nervous or excited or worried. "So, what about food, ma'am?"

"Ahh, no! Don't call me ma'am," cried Vice-Captain Erica, not angry but more in a pouting way. "Don't worry about being hyper polite like you were taught in your village, Aubrey! But to answer your question, Brownstone 14 is the communal dining area. It's actually a restaurant run by our Captain's wife. As a 5th Class Junior Magic Knight, you'll probably have to work a couple of shifts as a dishwasher or a table cleaner. Purple Orcas eat for free. Once you start getting your pay, you can leave tips. All the money goes to the local churches for the orphans."

"Wow that's a good thing," said Aubrey, glad to know that her squad was doing good things for the people. Magic Knights were there to protect the people of the Clover Kingdom and sometimes that meant taking care of them in other ways too. "Um, what else will I have to do?"

"Other than shifts at Brownstone 14 and keeping this one clean, you'll have training with myself and a couple of other senior members until you're ready to go on a small, easy missions," said Erica. "I have everything scheduled for you here." Aubrey was handed a piece of paper with a breakdown of Aubrey's day-to-day life as a Purple Orca. "This is just for the first couple of months, then we'll change things up once you learn more and get stronger." Erica took out keys from her pocket. "Your brownstone key and your room key. Don't lose them."

Taking the two keys, Aubrey felt, for the first time, that she was being treated like a capable person instead of a child. It was a nice feeling. "Thank you, Vice-Captain."

"And if you need anything, let me know. I'm here to help and guide you," said Vice-Captain Erica, smiling. "Oh! And when you start getting your pay, I'll help you figure out how much you can send back to your family in Rayaka without leaving yourself broke. Now I'm going to let you get settled in! The boys should be around soon and Edward will show you around a bit more before dinner." Vice-Captain Erica nodded, waiting for Aubrey to do something.

"Okay," said Aubrey, as she took the one key and unlocked the door to her new home (which was bigger than the one in Rayaka). Aubrey's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. There were so many books here. They must be Edward's books. Things looked neat and organized, but very homey with some plants and flowers scattered about the main living room.

"Your room is the one with the red door. Edward's room door is green, Prince Jules' one is blue, and Prince Con's will be yellow. The bathroom is the beige door. As you can see there is a small kitchen, and you may cook for yourself if you wish, but most find it easier to eat at Brownstone 14," explained Vice-Captain Erica, amused.

Aubrey blushed a bit. The Vice-Captain probably seen a bunch of peasants freak out over new living quarters before and found it cute or something. "Wow, this is amazing. I'll have to thank the Captain when I see him again."

"It's not a big deal. Everyone deserves a space of one's own," said Vice-Captain Erica. "Go ahead, enjoy yourself. I'll see you later okay?"

"Yes," said Aubrey, cheerfully.

Before the Vice-Captain left, she said, "We're glad to have you here, Aubrey. You'll fit right in."

Aubrey was now alone in her new home and suddenly everything felt overwhelming. This whole day, from the exams to her interfering in a battle between royals and then having to pick what squad she wanted, was just so much. This was the first time that she was away from home too.

She bunched up her face and willed herself not to cry. Wiping her face of stray tears, she went over to the room with the red door and unlocked it.

"Oh my God, this is huge," said Aubrey, more to herself than anything. The room was amazing, but probably basic to anyone who had money. The room was basically the size of the whole apartment above the general store. Back in Rayaka, Aubrey shared the room with her grandmother, while her parents had the other smaller room. Here she had a bed bigger than she had ever seen, and she had a desk! There was a dresser and even a door for a closet! Even better there was space to move without it being cluttered. There was a big bay window overlooking the Bantam Towne streets.

She only had one bag with her, the bag she brought with her to the exams. She placed the bag on the bed and sorted through the little belongings that she had. She decided to put her _Adventures of Lady Astoria_ books on the desk. She saw that there was stationary and writing tools on the desk. Aubrey was going to have write a letter to Grandma Aru and her parents to tell them the good news!

Still, as she cleaned out her bag, she realized that she didn't have much of anything. She only had the outfit she was wearing and her night-clothes, so she just put the night-clothes on top of the dresser. Maybe she needed to think about getting some more outfits once she got her first pay. She was also going to have to ask Edward how everyone washed their clothes. It wouldn't be a bother to just wash her clothes in the bathroom tub.

Other than her books, her night-clothes, she had her packed lunch that she didn't get to eat yet, her toiletries (Brush, soap, towel, etc.) and her small sewing kit (a present from her parents). On her person, she had the holster for her grimoire and several daggers (gifts from Miss Shula, who insisted that Aubrey take them).

Suddenly, she felt rather inadequate again.

"Get a grip, Aubrey," she told herself, as she went to the desk. She sat in the chair and took the stationary to write a letter to her family.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Bantam Towne**  
**Purple Orcas Headquarters**  
**Brownstone 11**  
**Near suppertime**

Jules and Con finally reached the Purple Orcas Headquarters. Con was still upset about before and it took everything in Jules' willpower not to verbally eviscerate his uncle, the Clover King, and his terrible cousin Theodora. Jules didn't need to get in trouble and have them send him back to the Heart Kingdom to early. Jules wanted to get Con comfortable as a Magic Knight before Jules headed back home.

"I can't believe Edward left us to get here ourselves," muttered Jules. Con didn't know that Edward was Julius so Jules had to watch himself. As far as Con knew, "Edward" was a Magic Knight around their age. In addition, he knew that the new girl, Miss Aubrey, was going to be staying in the fourth room so he had to be double sure that he didn't slip up and call "Edward" "Uncle Julius."

"He's got other responsibilities," said Con, finally saying something after hours of silence. "I feel bad that he's got to babysit me."

"It's the least he can do," replied Jules. The only good thing about pretending "Edward" was a sixteen-year-old Magic Knight member of the Purple Orcas Squad was that Jules was going to be able to treat his uncle as a peer. "Anyway, once you get used to being in a squad, you won't need babysitting, as you call it."

"You're so positive that I'm going to do well," said Con, warily.

"Yeah, once you don't have your parents and sister breathing down your neck, you'll be fine. Besides, Miss Aubrey seems like a good sort of girl, you two can become friends," said Jules.

"I guess," Con replied, not convinced.

Jules rolled his eyes. "Believe in yourself more, Con! You're a better wizard than you know." He stopped in front of Brownstone 11 and took out the key to unlock the door. The two cousins stepped inside to find "Edward" was already there in a conversation with Miss Aubrey. "Edward's" eyes were sparkling as Miss Aubrey explained how her magic usually worked and what kind of spells she hoped to get. "I'm back. Con's here too."

"Ah, hiya, Prince Jules, Prince Con," said "Edward," grinning at them. "I was just giving Miss Aubrey the rundown of some stuff she needs to know as a new Magic Knight. Dinner at Brownstone 14 is soon!" For some reason, Jules knew that his ridiculous uncle was up to something meddlesome.

"Hi, Prince Jules, Prince Con," greeted Miss Aubrey, awkwardly smiling at them, dirty blonde hair a complete disaster but she didn't seem to notice. "Let's all get along!"

Jules snorted, but Con seemed to not be as nervous as before. Con said, "I'm sure we will."

Miss Aubrey gave Con a bigger smile. "Awesome! Anyway, Vice-Captain told me that the Captain's wife makes the best food. Are you hungry yet?"

"Always," replied Jules, hating the fact that his stomach had become a bottomless bit as soon as he started training in earnest a few years ago. He was constantly hungry. "It's pretty good. Bet Lady Granvorka is gonna go all out for you two joining the squad." He had to try to be more personable now that someone he didn't know was living with him, his cousin and his uncle. Jules was a prince, after all. He didn't want to come off like a rude asshole that he knew sometimes he was.

"Alright, alright," said "Edward." "Con, Jules, go clean yourselves up before we go to dinner." Jules nodded and grabbed his cousin's arm to drag him to the bathroom. When one went to eat at Brownstone 14, the rule was to be clean and tidy and ready for a meal amongst one's comrades. Basically, it wasn't allowed to roll out of bed and go to eat in your night-clothes for instance. "Now, Miss Aubrey, if you would let me assist you with your hair…"

Jules rolled his eyes. "Well, this is going to be weird."

"I think you're a weird magnet, cousin," Con said, matter-of-factly. "Weird things don't happen to me unless I'm with you."

Jules made a face. His cousin was right—weird stuff always happened to Jules or he was near a bunch of chaotic weirdos.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Bantam Towne**  
**Purple Orcas Headquarters**  
**Brownstone 11**  
**Aubrey's First Full Day as a Magic Knight**

_AUBREY WATERS, 5TH CLASS JUNIOR MAGIC KNIGHT_  
_DAILY SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)_

8AM- BREAKFAST AT BROWNSTONE 14  
9AM-12PM- TRAINING WITH ADRIAN DUPAIN  
12PM-1PM- LUNCH BROWNSTONE 14  
1PM-3PM- TRAINING WITH VICE-CAPTAIN ERICA PUTNAM  
3PM-5PM- MAGIC KNIGHT POLICY AND PROCEDURES LESSON WITH XERX LUGNER  
5PM-6PM- DINNER BROWNSTONE 14  
6PM-9PM- DISHWASHER DUTIES AT BROWNSTONE 14

Aubrey had woken up at 6am out of pure habit. Grandma Aru always demanded her fetch breakfast from the baker's and did her morning chores, so Aubrey was used to it. Being that breakfast wasn't served for two more hours, Aubrey took a bath and got ready before the boys even stirred in their rooms. Thankfully once she was ready, she grabbed one of the apples in the small kitchen to tide her over for a more hearty breakfast.

She munched on the apple. She had an hour to kill. Maybe she'd finish her book that she started the day before in line for the exams. The fact that she was a Magic Knight still hadn't set in her mind.

The door to Prince Jules's room opened and the black-haired Heart Prince came out of the room, yawning, still half-asleep, carrying his day clothes. Prince Jules blinked a couple of times, green eyes narrowing at Miss Aubrey as if remembering that she lived there now too. "Oh, morning." He didn't even give her a chance to respond, going to the bathroom.

Aubrey pinched her own cheeks. She needed to be friendlier and not so shy. The Purple Orcas had more people in their squad than lived in her village. Finishing her apple, Aubrey sat on the couch. She already was ready for any training, grimoire and daggers ready to go. She made a note to get new leather shoes, in addition to a few more outfits on her pay day.

She was kind of antsy, being her official day and all.

"Your hair is a mess again," said Prince Jules, exiting the bathroom, cleaned and ready for the day. He didn't say it in a mean way, just to let her know, as she learned about the cleanliness rules of Brownstone 14 last night at supper.

Aubrey's hair never stayed neat. Miss Shula usually fussed over it for her, and yesterday Edward kindly braided it before supper. She attempted to pat it down in place with her hands.

"That's not gonna work," said Prince Jules. He quickly went back into the bathroom and came out with her brush that she forgot to take out of the bathroom. He came over to the couch. "Turn your head forward and I'll fix it."

Aubrey's face warmed as she looked forward.

No one would ever believe her that the Crown Prince of the Heart Kingdom was braiding her hair, a peasant of the Clover Kingdom's hair, just one day after meeting each other. Realizing that there was an awkward silence, Aubrey asked, "Uh, how do you know to braid hair?"

"I used to play with my mom's hair when I was younger," replied Prince Jules. "She taught me. There, done." He patted her head. "Now I have to get Edward up. He's impossible to wake. Con should be up shorty." He handed her brush to her and went to Edward's room and pounded on the door. "WAKE UP EDWARD!"

Aubrey laughed as instead of waking up Edward, Prince Jules woke up his cousin, Prince Con. Con came stumbling out of the room, blearily eyed, but frowning. "It's too early, Jules, shut up."

"Nah, it's not," said Prince Jules. "Go get ready for your first day, Con. EDWARD! WAKE UP!" Jules continued to pound on Edward's door, but Aubrey's new senior didn't make a sound. Meanwhile, Con grumbled and went back into his room, only to come out moments later with his day clothes and headed to the bathroom.

Aubrey grinned. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad, living with the three of them.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Bantam Towne**  
**Purple Orcas Headquarters**  
**Brownstone 14**  
**Aubrey's First Full Day as a Magic Knight, 12:30pm**

Aubrey was seated next to Prince Con in the booth table they shared as they ate their lunches. She was on her second helping after that morning's training with Mr. Adrian, while Con was on his third helping. For such a skinny boy, he sure ate a lot. It was just the two of them at the moment, as Edward was nowhere to be found and Prince Jules was taking a message from his mother, the Heart Queen. Today's lunch was hearty stew and freshly baked bread.

"Woah-Woah, Little Aubrey, that looks great," said a familiar voice. Aubrey looked up from her meal to see Big Bro Magna and Big Bro Luck approaching their table.

"Big Bro, what are you doing here," asked Aubrey, jumping up from her seat and giving him a hug.

"Not checking on you," said Magna, laughing, and completely lying. He hugged her tightly. "The purple looks good on you, kiddo. How's your first day?"

"Tiring, but it's awesome," said Aubrey. "Big Bro Luck, don't steal my food!" Luck was already finishing the stew.

"But I'm hungry and you were busy," said Luck, grinning. "I can't wait until you get stronger. Then we can fight!"

"Big Bro Luck, I don't think that'd be a good idea," said Aubrey, sweating a bit. She knew from what everyone said that Luck was battle hungry beyond belief. "Anyway, me and Prince Con were just eating our lunch. We have training with Vice-Captain Erica this afternoon."

"Oh, you'll learn a lot from her. Her magic affinity is clay," said Magna, nodding. "She's a big hard-nosed but you and our little Prince will be just fine. How're you doing, Prince Con? Noelle told me to tell you to do your best!"

Prince Con flushed. "Thank Lady Noelle for me, then, Mr. Magna."

"What a polite kid," said Magna, amused.

"Magna, Luck! What are you doing harassing my juniors," demanded Vice-Captain Erica, storming over to the table.

"I ain't harassing no one," said Magna, getting loud, but not mad. "You'd better take care of Little Aubrey, she's my lil sis you know!"

Aubrey covered her face with her hands in pure embarrassment. This was exactly the reason why she didn't pick the Black Bulls. Big Bro Magna can be kind of overprotective sometimes, not that she hated it, but she was fifteen years old!

"Well, it could be worse," said Prince Con, softly, and barely fazed by the situation as Magna and Vice-Captain Erica good-naturedly bickered, and as Luck stole the rest of his stew and bread. "You could have a cousin who'd fight God if need be."

Aubrey giggled.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Bantam Towne**  
**Purple Orcas Headquarters**  
**Brownstone 11**  
**Aubrey's First Full Day as a Magic Knight, Just after 9pm**

Aubrey hefted a big sigh as she and Con (Con told her that she didn't have to call him Prince all the time, only in proper company) entered their brownstone house, tiredly. Aubrey was exhausted because of the training intensity and Con was tired because they spent the last three hours washing the dishes at Brownstone 14. (Aubrey had teach Con how to properly wash and dry dishes!) Edward was sitting in the living room on the couch. Their senior was reading a book, relaxed. She wondered what he did all day.

Prince Jules was nowhere to be found, so she suspected that the Heart Prince was an early-to-bed-early-to-rise type.

"How was your first day," asked Edward, cheerfully.

"I learned a new spell in training with the Vice-Captain," said Aubrey, "It's similar to Maylan's Bullet Barrage, except mine's sand."

"Wow-Woah, very cool, can't wait to see it. And what about you Prince Con?"

Con replied, "I learned how to clean dishes and I'm seriously considering raises the wages for the servants at the Palace when I'm King."

"Good! Good! Now, off to bed you two. There's more training to come."

Aubrey nodded and shuffled off to her room. "Night."

"Good night," said Edward and Con together.

It was a hard first day but Aubrey didn't expect any less.

_Ch. End_

* * *

Let me know what you think! Be on the lookout for the first chapter of the Zora/Kirsch story of this AU.


	3. Chapter 3

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Forsaken Realm**  
**Farmer's Ville**  
**One Month Later**  
**Afternoon**

Aubrey was beyond excited. She was her very first Magic Knight mission. Of course, it was to find some lost cattle, that may possibly have been stolen, but it was still a proper mission. She and Con were placed with Edward and Jules to handle the task. While it's only been a month into her Magic Knight training, Aubrey felt that she was learning so much. The Purple Orcas had become such a positive place for growth since Captain Kaiser and Vice-Captain Erica took over from the previous captain and vice-captain.

They had flown on their brooms from the Purple Orcas headquarters to a southern village called Farmer's Ville. Since she had been working on her mana control, her broom flying got loads better thanks to her senior teacher Adrian. Con and Jules weren't too pleased about having to head out to the farming boonies, but Edward was excited. Edward was usually excited for any opportunity to see new magic.

While Con and Jules talked to the farmer to get information about the cattle, Edward was coaching Aubrey on mana-sensing. According to the other Magic Knights, most missions were completed in teams of two, three or four. Very rarely were there solo missions unless it was a Captain or an extremely high-level wizard (i.e. a royal or noble). It made sense to divide the mission parts.

Considering that Con was able to track mana already, Aubrey was at a bit of a disadvantage so Edward insisted that he be the one to teach her when he found out.

"Not everyone is a natural at sensing mana. Captains Yami and Asta of the Black Bulls sense Ki, instead of mana, but it's a similar concept. Mana is magical energy. Ki is more akin to spiritual energy, from the translation that I was given. There are other types but we are just going to focus on the mana sensing," explained Edward, seemingly able to watch not only Aubrey but also the two Princes.

"That makes sense. I know Big Bro Luck is very good at it," said Aubrey, nodding. She hadn't been quite as good when she tried.

"Yes! He's a fine example who can distinguished may different details. Another example is Lord Bennett Vermillion. He's the best tracker in the Kingdom. But I would say that Luck's mana sensor is much more detail-oriented while Bennett's amazing just broad," said Edward, excitedly. "Now, the trick to mana sensing is to understand the different bases of mana—fire, water, wind, earth, metal, light, dark, time, and space."

"I've a sand attribute so the broader category is earth for me," said Aubrey. "Prince Jules' attribute is mist, so it falls under the broader category of water. And Con has light magic."

"Correct! And I have time magic. Each base mana feels a different way. It's actually very good that you'll be able to sense different types of mana before you really get out into the battlefield," said Edward, nodding and smiling at her. "Today I want you focus on my magic and get a good feel for it."

"Okay!"

"Hey, you two, we got the information from the farmer," said Prince Jules, as he and Con came over to them. Prince Jules had a little notebook in his hands. "There are 4 cows and 7 sheep missing. Each of them has the farmer's brand on them. Farmer claims that the foxes have been rowdy lately. But the wife thinks its bandits."

"Excellent work," said Edward. "Now, Aubrey, what do you think?"

Three pairs of eyes turned on Aubrey and she suddenly felt anxious again. It happened more and more when people asked her opinion, especially since they valued it. "Uh, well, there've been reports of strange travelers. It's possible it could be bandits. But, honestly, what would bandits do with branded animals, especially cows and sheep? Most like predators got 'em, foxes or boars or something."

Prince Jules nodded, "Tends to happen in Heart too. The wild predators taking the domesticated livestock without the farmers' knowledge. The best thing we can do is do a survey of the surrounding area looking."

Con piped up. It was Aubrey's opinion that Con was cutely soft and sheltered in ways that she cannot understand. He's smart, witty when he's not being shy, kind of guy. But the best thing about Con was that he doesn't let himself remain ignorant of the things he does not know or understand and that's why he'll be a good King. "What will happen if we can't find these animals?"

"They'll just have to buy new ones," said Edward. "But this is very good. Part of being a Magic Knight is sometimes being a bit of a detective. But it's also about interacting with the civilians and protecting them. Con, you come with me and we'll take the east. Jules, Miss Aubrey, you take the west and will meet at the center and see what we can find."

Aubrey, Con and Jules all nodded. Con and Edward headed east, leaving Aubrey and Jules to head west.

"Let's go," said Aubrey, smiling at Jules.

Together she and the Heart Prince got on their broom for an aerial view. Scanning the ground for any evidence of something out of the ordinary. Farmer's Ville was surrounded by woods anyway, so she had a feeling it was not bandits.

"Hey, there looks to be a campfire down there," said Jules, pointing to the rising smoke in the middle of the woods.

Or maybe it was bandits, thought Aubrey.

The two landed a bit away from the smoke to sneak up and observe the situation. Jules made the shushing motion and Aubrey nodded.

Jules was different kind of Prince than Con, but not in a way that made one better than another. Jules was far more confident, certainly, but he had also been sheltered (though differently than Con). There was some arrogance and pride in Jules and he can be snarky. But underneath it all, he was very kind-hearted, a person who liked to take care of others. Aubrey can see how much he cared about Con and Edward. He's wholly devoted to his mother.

And he's kind to her, still helping her every morning like a routine by braiding her hair so she didn't look like a mess.

Then, Aubrey sensed Edward's mana, as he told her to focus on his time mana for the mission. He and Con must be nearby as Edward's mana was near a mana that was familiar and warm at the same time.

"Yeah, I sense them too," said Jules, as softly as possible.

As they approached the camp, Aubrey's senses were muddled, as Jules grabbed her arm to stop her. He gave her a stern shake of his head to stop her.

Through the bushes, they found the source of the smoke. It wasn't bandits, but some weird men dressed in robes.

"Damnit, it's a cult," hissed Jules.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Forsaken Realm**  
**Farmer's Ville**  
**Afternoon**

Jules only went on this mission to keep an eye on his cousin. Edward was able to take care of himself and Aubrey was surprisingly adaptable and a quick learner. Con being in the field scared Jules far more than Con just being in the Purple Orcas' headquarters. It was just Jules' luck that this simple "find-the-farm-animal" turned into "well-there's-a-cult-now."

Cults weren't much of a problem in the Heart Kingdom, as they still worshipped the Old Gods and rejected the ways of the Church of the One God. Cults clearly were a problem in Clover, as the Eye of the Midnight Sun could be counted as one (that and a terrorist organization).

Aubrey looked a bit pale at the sight of the people sacrificing the animals they were supposed to be finding in the first place. He put his hand on her head. "Breathe. It'll be fine," Jules whispered to her.

Her normal eager and earnest demeanor that tended to irritate him slightly was replaced with something much more serious.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. Some more Magic Knight scum," said a voice. A man, one of the cult people, who had excellent mana-suppressing skills grabbed Aubrey by the Purple Orcas' cloak, nearly choking her, but Aubrey, being small and nimble, reacted by unlatching the cloak and performing her new favorite spell—Sand Ball—and lobbed it in the man's face.

Aubrey spun around and she stabbed the man in the torso with one of her knives.

She rushed back to Jules, as he using his Morning Mists spell to cover them while the man was cursing and bleeding and had sand in his eyes.

"Nice," complimented Jules.

Aubrey grinned.

They unfortunately backtracked straight into the enemy camp.

"Well, looks like the cavalry has arrived but failed," said another voice, a woman this time.

Jules sensed his uncle and his cousin before he saw them. The cultists must have sprung a trap, because Uncle Julius was in a stasis that if he wasn't de-aged, he'd be able to break. And Con was tied up with snake ropes by a tree.

"Fuck," Jules cursed.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Forsaken Realm**  
**Farmer's Ville**  
**Afternoon**

Aubrey was very glad that she had been paired with Jules and not Con, because Jules had enough confidence to pretend that he wasn't afraid or maybe he wasn't afraid. All Aubrey knew that she was glad because he was going to be able to do all the talking. She wasn't ready to be the smack-talking type like her Big Bro Magna.

"Let my cousin and friend go," said Jules, in a non-negotiable tone. "And we want the remaining animals back. They're not yours. If you want to do some weird sacrificing nonsense, go buy the animals instead of stealing from hard-working farmers."

The lady, who seemed like she was the leader of this cult, snarled. "Never. The Great Queen of the Heavens will return to smite the non-believers of the so-called Church of the One True God. Hah, the One True God is merely the Great Queen's Consort who had gotten a following by small-minded men who were afraid of feminine power!"

Jules snarled. "Don't give a damn! Release them!"

Aubrey should have felt insulted that Jules standing half-in-front of Aubrey in a protective way, but she only felt gratitude that he cared enough to want to protect her.

"What a heartless little boy you are," said the woman.

"Grand Priestess, what about the game," asked another cultist, another man. Was this cult just one woman fooling a bunch of dumb men?

"What game," Jules asked, still very angry.

"Oh-ho? Interested are we? Very well," said the Grand Priestess, haughtily. "If you and your little girlfriend beat us at the game, you get the two other boys back and the remaining animals. If you don't, well, you all die."

Before Aubrey had a chance to say anything, Jules already said, "Deal."

"Give us a few moments to set it up," said the Grand Priestess.

"Yeah, sure," said Jules.

Aubrey grabbed Jules' arm and said, "What're you thinking? What if this is a game we can't win? And I'm barely trained. I don't want to mess up."

Jules pried her hand off his arm and put his hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes with his big gentle green eyes and said, "Stop. It's going to be okay. We have got this. We're smarter than these idiots put together, right?"

Aubrey's face flushed and the only thing she was able to reply as he had complete faith in her at that very moment, "Right!"

Jules nodded and turned back to the Grand Priestess and her minions. "Let's go."

As it turned out the game was, in fact, chess, but not normal chess. It was somebody's magic of the space variety that made life size game pieces and the board, but it was clear that there were traps on the black and white tiles.

"Uh, Jules, please tell me you know how to play chess," said Aubrey, because she seen it a few times, but it was mostly a nobility and royalty thing.

"Yeah, it's my mom's favorite game," said Jules. "What are the rules, cult lady?"

The Grand Priestess' mouth thinned into a straight line, annoyed. "One of you is the player, moving the pieces and the other will play the Queen."

Aubrey understood immediately that if Jules lost or even moved a piece wrong, she might get injured or die. Steeling herself, she stepped into the empty Queen's spot, while the Grand Priestess did the same on her side of the board. It looked like the magic user will be playing.

"Get your sand shield ready," said Jules, eyes narrowing. "They are going to play dirty."

"Yeah, got it," said Aubrey.

And so the game began.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Forsaken Realm**  
**Farmer's Ville**  
**Afternoon, one hour into the game**

They were nearing the end of the game. He was near to putting the enemies in check and protecting "the Queen." Like Jules suspected, the Grand Priestess attacked Aubrey and there were plenty of traps. Aubrey demanded that he not worry about her, just worry about winning, but of course, he worried.

He also reminded himself to hug his mother for teaching him this game even if he hated every minute of the lessons.

The other side was less with nine pieces and Jules had twelve pieces.

It was his turn.

Don't mess up, he thought to himself. Jules locked eyes with Aubrey, who had great faith in him for he had great faith in her.

"Queen to F6, Checkmate," said Jules, almost sighing with relief as Aubrey moved to space.

But it wasn't over as three things happened at once—Edward finally broke out of the trap, Con got out of the snakes, and the board exploded with heavy mana. The heavy mana that hit Aubrey full-on and Jules who leapt to attempt to grab Aubrey.

Thankfully, Uncle Julius gathered enough of his mana that he froze the enemies in time and stopped the explosion from doing any more damage. Jules and Con reached Aubrey, who had passed out standing up from the amount of mana. One on each side, Jules and Con picked Aubrey up and rushed away.

"Keep going," said Uncle Julius, frowning. "I'll catch up."

The two Princes moved as quickly with their unconscious teammate, heading towards the farm of the people they were supposed to be helping. Eventually, they ran far enough away to stop and rest.

"Is she gonna be alright," asked Con, who looked terrified. Jules didn't blame him as he had been awake and watching the match the entire time.

Gently placing Aubrey on the ground, Jules, checked her pulse, which was still going strong, but when he checked her temperature, she had a slight fever. "Nothing a healer can't handle," said Jules, biting his bottom lip. He spotted something red on her arm.

"Jules," said Con, seriously. "There's a mark on her arm. That's sealing magic."

"I know," said Jules, hanging his head but peering at Aubrey's right arm where a small inverted red crown now sat.

"We're going to have to tell Master Julius," said Con, sternly.

Jules head shot up. "Uh, what?"

Con smiled wryly. "I'm not a dumbass, Jules. Edward acts exactly like Master Julius and they look very, very similar."

"Yeah, okay," said Jules, grimacing.

Now all they had to do was wait for Julius/Edward to show up.

_Ch. End_

* * *

As always let me know what you think.

Next update is in a month.


	4. Chapter 4

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**The Capital**  
**Magic Knights Headquarters**  
**The Grand Hall**  
**Day of the War Merits Conferment Ceremony**

Aubrey straightened her new dress for the hundredth time as she, Con and Jules, escorted by Captain Kaiser, himself, entered the Grand Hall where the War Merits Conferment Ceremony were taking place that day. It's been two months since her very first missions and things have gone by quickly! She and Con had been a bunch of missions with other Purple Orca members, gaining experience and learning new spells along the way.

Today, Aubrey was getting a promotion to a 3rd Class Junior Magic Knight and Con was getting a promotion to a 4th Class Junior Magic Knight. Captain Kaiser and Vice-Captain Erica were so proud of them for working hard and being good members of the Purple Orcas.

"Stop fussing or you'll wrinkle it," said Jules, scolding her. Since the mission that went from a simple "find-the-missing-livestock" mission to an "oh-it's-a-cult" mission, Jules had deemed her under his care just as much Con had been. It was strange to have the Crown Prince of the Heart Kingdom be her "mom friend" (or so joked all their seniors at the Purple Orcas) and fuss over her. Ordinarily, she thought she hate it but it was nice for someone to care, especially since she hadn't been home in a few months.

"I'm not used to dresses," said Aubrey, half-complaining. Vice-Captain Erica had to take her shopping to buy the dress and so it didn't clash with the purple cloak of their squad.

"It's a proper ceremony and you're getting a promotion, so you'll suffer it," said Jules, rolling his eyes. He was wearing the traditional Heart Kingdom Special Forces ceremonial uniform today, which made Jules look like a Prince more than anything.

"You'll get used to it," said Con, smiling kindly. Con was also looking the part of Crown Prince. He was wearing his traditional Kira Clover royal robes, which thankfully didn't clash with the purple of the cloak.

Aubrey's grandma didn't believe that she was friends with two Crown Princes. Sometimes, Aubrey didn't believe it herself.

"Ah, we're here," said Captain Kaiser, opening the door to the Grand Hall where many Magic Knights invited were already eating and mingling. They were waiting for the Wizard King to give his speech and perform the ceremony. "Go, have fun!" Captain Kaiser wandered off to where the other Captains conferred off to the side of the room.

"Wow, look at all the food," said Aubrey. Certainly, Brownstone 14 went through a lot of food but that was more common foods than fancy stuff. There were a lot of pastries, cakes, and fruit-based deserts.

"The strawberry shortcake is the best in the Kingdom," said Con, who probably grew up eating all this rich food. "You'll like it, Miss Aubrey."

Aubrey definitely had to try it, but she spotted a familiar face in a Golden Dawn cloak. She told the boys, "I'll be back." She went over to Maylan Naylor, the most junior member of the Golden Dawn squad, who had been Aubrey's opponent in the Magic Knight Exams. "Hi, long time no see! How have you been?"

"Aubrey Waters, it has been a while," said Maylan. She held her hand out for Aubrey to shake. "You're getting a promotion too?"

"Yep! 3rd Class Junior Magic Knight," said Aubrey, shaking Maylan's hand.

"Impressive," said Maylan. "I'm being promoted to a 2nd Class Junior Magic Knight."

"Wow," said Aubrey, cheerfully. "You must have gotten a lot tougher since the exams!"

"Master Klaus is a taskmaster of a teacher," said Maylan, ruefully. "Captain Yuno expects the best out of everyone, meaning that I gotta to double the work to even impress him."

Aubrey nodded. "Captain Kaiser has a particular way of doing things in the Purple Orcas, so it's a tough challenge."

"I'm glad you're doing well," replied Maylan. "I hope that when we get to do co-op missions that we'll be able to work together."

Brightening, Aubrey said, "Vice-Captain thinks I'll be ready for them soon."

Maylan grinned. She seemed a lot happier and personable than she was back at the Exams. Perhaps, she was nervous just like Aubrey. "Oh, so what kind of spells have you learned since our match?"

"Oh lots," said Aubrey. "I got some stronger versions of spells I already had too!"

"Are we talking spells," said Edward, popping up nearby, stars in his eyes.

"Edward! You disappeared earlier!"

"Sorry," said Edward, laughing nervously. "I had to look something up. But are we talking about new spells?"

Aubrey sighed and introduced her senior squad-mate to Maylan, who looked rather confused at the interruption. Edward was such a magic nerd sometimes.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**The Capital**  
**Magic Knights Headquarters**  
**The Grand Hall**  
**Day of the War Merits Conferment Ceremony**

It was times like these that Jules realized that he and Con were basically the same. Once Aubrey flitted off to interact with other people, Jules and Con found a quiet corner to lurk and watch the crowd. Jules was just worried that Theodora was going to be there and start some fight with Con. And he was nervous that someone was going to notice the mark on Aubrey's wrist that she gotten as a result of their clash with the cult.

He and Con told Uncle Julius, who didn't recognize the mark, and Aubrey, who hadn't suffered anything from the mark and wasn't worried. So, Jules worried for her instead. Once he got back home in a couple of months, he would have access to the Heart Kingdom Archives and he'd do research there to see if anything was there.

"Aubrey's so good with people," said Con, morosely. Aubrey was hanging around the Golden Dawn and Black Bulls' members in attendance. She was having a grand old time. She looked to be telling a story to her "Big Bro" Magna and the others, since she was moving her hands around emphatically. "People naturally like her. She's cute and small."

"She'll kick you in the shins if you call her cute and small again," said Jules, slightly amused.

"But she is," said Con.

In Jules' opinion, both those adjectives did describe Aubrey Waters, but he'd go so far as to also include stubborn and strong. Jules said, slightly teasing, "Careful, cousin, it almost sounds like you have a crush on her."

Con snorted. "I think she's cute in a friend way. You're the one that should be careful. I'm not the one that braids her hair every day because she's bad at it."

Jules opened his mouth to retort but nothing came to mind. "Shut up."

"You're the master of eloquence today," Con replied, grinning.

Jules didn't say anything else because Lord Fuegoleon came into the room. The ceremony began. Everyone moved closer to listen to the Wizard King's speech.

Lord Fuegoleon was calm and regal as ever. "Thank you all for coming. Today we recognize the deeds of some of our fellow Magic Knights. Four of our newest Magic Knights even got promotions. We haven't seen that happen in a few years now. So congratulations to our newest Magic Knights-Princess Theodora Kira Clover of the Silver Eagles, Crown Prince Constantine Kira Clover of the Purple Orcas, Miss Maylan Naylor of the Golden Dawn, and Miss Aubrey Waters of the Purple Orcas. But new Magic Knights weren't the only ones embodying the spirit of true Magic Knights. Misters Zora Ideale, Magna Swing and Luck Voltia of the Black Bulls, Lord Leopold Vermillion of the Crimson Lions, and Lady Nebra Silva of the Silver Eagles for all of their continued hard work and determination. Now, I won't bore you with any more of a speech, so please enjoy the food."

Everyone politely clapped, as the Wizard King left the room along with the several of the Captains (several of the Captains stayed behind). Jules didn't understand the pomp and circumstance of the Clover Kingdom. Members of the Special Forces and the other military sections were promoted quietly. It was birthday parties, wedding and funerals that were the big hubbubs in Heart.

"I can't believe they promoted a loser like you," sneered Theodora, approaching Jules and Con. She had a heavy scowl on her face and glaring at them. "I also can't believe you let a peasant get a better promotion than you in your own squad."

Tired of his sister already, Con looked at his sister. "Do we have to do this now?"

"There's always time to remind you that I'm the rightful heir to the throne," said Theodora, sneering.

Con sighed heavily and Jules was about to tell her to leave not-so-politely, when the Captain of the Silver Eagles Langris Vaude appeared behind Theodora and put his hand on her shoulder. "Princess Theodora, need I remind you that you are a Silver Eagle and that attitude and behavior is not acceptable, especially toward your own kin?"

Captain Langris' tone was even, but the scolding was there.

Theodora blanched. "No, sir. I remember."

"Quite," said Langris. He bowed slightly. "Your Highnesses, please excuse us. Congratulations, Crown Prince Constantine." Langris diverted Theodora elsewhere, much to the surprise of both Con and Jules.

"I have never seen anyone scold my sister without losing an eye," said Con, surely exaggerating. "And I'm not exaggerating. It's why my mother and sister are not allowed in the same room with each other without supervision."

Jules hadn't seen his Aunt, the wife of the Clover King, since he been in the Clover Kingdom. "She attacked your mother?"

"Got my mom's right eye when we were 10," said Con, matter-of-factly. "I actually have to check in on my mother later since we're in the Capital. Can you take Miss Aubrey out to the city, since she didn't get a chance to explore the last time she was here?"

"Con, what the fuck?"

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**The Capital**  
**The Markets**  
**After the War Merits Conferment Ceremony**

"This is so cool. The Capital is so big," said Aubrey, as she trailed alongside Jules while Captain Kaiser was in a meeting and Con went to visit his mom. "Ooh, there's so many shops. I wanna see some new books!"

"It's alright here," said Jules, hands in his pockets. "The Heart Capital is twice this size. The Red Palace overlooks the city."

"You would be biased," said Aubrey, amused. "But I'd like to see the Heart Kingdom someday, if I could."

"If Con ever comes to visit me, you should tag-along with him," said Jules, shrugging. "The royals and nobles' kids from Clover tend to stay a few months in the Heart Kingdom as part of their early training. Con's never been."

"That would be fun," said Aubrey. She never even thought about adventuring outside of the Clover Kingdom! It might be fun, if she could do it. "Oh, that's a bookstore."

Jules shook his head. "Not that one," he said.

"Why?"

"Certain shops are clearly always going to up-sell you," said Jules, pointing at the bookstore. "See that one has a good deal at first glance, but if you look closer, it's basically a scam."

Aubrey deflated a bit. "Oh. It says 2 for 20, but most of the books are already 10, so that means, it's not a deal."

"Yep," said Jules. "Come on, Edward showed me a good one last time."

He led her a few streets down, but something else caught Aubrey's attention. She recognized the strange white robes. Without thinking, Aubrey grabbed Jules arms. "It's that cult," she hissed at him. There was no one there, but Aubrey was able to sense similar mana from that mission.

Jules' eyes narrowed. "Let's follow and see what's going on. Then we'll report back."

Aubrey nodded. Together, they followed the trail of mana down the alleys of Capital City. Suddenly, Aubrey's whole arm burned. It was the arm with the mark on it, the one she didn't know why she got it but the one that she was trying not to ruin her life. Tears sprung to her eyes and she stopped walking. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…"

Jules turned back around to see what was wrong. His eyes widened, as he grabbed her arm and move the sleeve of the dress. "Shit, it's activating something. Tell me what you're feeling."

"It burns," mumbled Aubrey, the veins in her right arm bugled as some sort of magic interacted with her own.

Jules took out of his grimoire. **"Mist Magic: The Art of Healing Mists."** He soaked a handkerchief with his mist magic and placed it gently on her arm. "Hold it there, let's get back to headquarters." He grabbed her left hand and dragged her back the way they came. "This is no time to be playing detective."

Aubrey's vision was becoming a bit hazy as she stumbled over her own two feet. She heard Jules curse under his breath. He knelt down, back facing her. She asked, weakly. "What?"

"Get on my back," said Jules. "Goddamnit, I should've brought my broom." He said that more to himself than her.

Awkwardly, they managed to get Aubrey on his back so he was essentially giving her a piggy back ride. While she was getting hazier and hazier as Jules ran as fast as he could back to the Magic Knight Headquarters, Aubrey sensed something at the edge of her mana sense. "Jules, someone's following us," she slurred.

And then, everything went black.

_Ch. End_


	5. Chapter 5

**Location Unknown**

Jules woke up with a splitting headache and definitely some dry blood caked into his hair. He touched his head gingerly and then immediately remembered that he had been with Aubrey. His eyes shot open and frantically looked around the room for any sign of his friend. He found her laying right next to him. She was out cold.

He moved but noted that his ankles were shackled to a chain leading to a stone wall, same with Aubrey. Jules wasn't able to move any further or really stand up, so he just reached over to Aubrey and took her hand in his.

"Hey, come on, wake up," said Jules, jostling her as much as he could, but there was no response. He knew from the lightness on his body that they took his grimoire, so he was stuck. Hopefully, the Captain and Con would realize that Jules and Aubrey not getting to the meetup point meant trouble.

What was most curious is the fact that the mark acted the way it did in the alleyway? What exactly was happening to Aubrey?

"So, the boy is finally awake," said a voice. "You and the other contemptuous Magic Knights may have captured by sister, but she did what she needed to do."

Jules snarled. "You let us go right now! She needs medical attention! If you kill a Magic Knight, the entirety of the force of the military of Clover will come down upon you cultists."

The person speaking came into the room and kneeled down by Aubrey. It was another woman like the one from the woods. "She may be considered a peasant by the corrupt royalty of Clover, but to us, she was chosen." The woman ran her hands through Aubrey's hair and touch Aubrey's arm, the arm with the mark.

It sent Jules into a rage. "Don't _fucking_ touch her!" He maneuvered his body that he was able to put himself between the cultist lady and Aubrey. "Come on, Aubrey, wake up!"

"A corrupt royal like you protecting an innocent like her? Hah, I guess I've seen everything," said the woman.

"What do you want with her?"

"I'm not going to tell you," said the woman. "That would just be pure foolishness. I am not as slow as my sister."

"She called herself the Grand Priestess," said Jules. "What does that make you?"

"I am the True Believer," said the woman, the True Believer. She snapped her fingers and several men in white robes came into the room (dungeon?). "Pick up the chosen; it's time to deliver her. And I suppose bring the boy."

Jules tried to fight them but they used binding magic to stop him, as they moved himself and Aubrey out of the room to another part of the cultist's base. Jules tried to get a look at the building for any possible escape routes or if there was a window for any location.

They were taken to a room that unfortunately looked familiar to Jules. It looked like a temple. But Jules knew that there were no more temples to the Old Gods in Clover Kingdom, as they had decided to forgo the Pantheon, instead deciding to worship the One God (who is the Sun God in the Pantheon). The Church, figuratively led by the Clover King and actually by a Council of Holy Men, made sure that there were no temples left in the Clover Kingdom.

However, while the Spade and the Diamond Kingdoms got rid of religious practices altogether and Clover turned their backs on the Pantheon, the Heart Kingdom still followed the Pantheon and Temples flourished under the rule of the Nova Heart family. There was even a Temple in the Red Palace, dedicated to the God of Heavens and the Goddess of the Underworld.

The only thing about the Pantheon that had changed over the centuries had been the human sacrifice practice. It had been a thousand years since the Heart Kingdom had one of these human sacrifice ceremonies.

"You're gonna kill her," said Jules, tonelessly as he was promptly dropped on the ground, while Aubrey was gently placed on a slab on the altar. Jules only paid so much attention to his religious history. He couldn't remember why human sacrifices had been a thing done.

Unfortunately, once Aubrey was on the altar, the True Believer or whatever she was calling herself, took some paints out and began making magic seals on Aubrey's exposed arms and legs. Jules was only able to watch in horror.

"It won't be death for you. Just a new life," said the True Believer, finishing the seals. "This is a great day. We have been waiting such a long time."

And then the woman activated the mark and Jules knew that the screams Aubrey let out at that moment would be burned into his memories until the day he died.

"_**STOP!"**_ Jules yelled helplessly.

Aubrey began leaking way too mana, mana that wasn't hers. The mana wasn't even anything Jules sensed in his life. It wasn't a devil magic and it wasn't human magic. It was something else altogether. The unconscious girl kept screaming.

The air suddenly became very charged and very warm, as the roof of the building caved in upon them, the debris only stopping thanks to a particular time wizard.

Jules let out a sigh of relief as Uncle Julius brought Magna, Luck and Asta of the Black Bulls with him. Magna and Luck immediately attacked the cult members, while Asta knocked out the True Believer woman.

Uncle Julius undid the magical bindings on Jules. "Your mother is going to kill me," he said to Jules.

Jules weakly smiled. He used his magic to summon his grimoire to himself. "Aubrey, they did something to her."

His uncle pursed his lips together into a hard frown. "This is an Old God Temple. And this was the human sacrifice room."

However, before Uncle Julius could explain his theory further, Asta yelled, "Hey, uh, my Anti-Magic isn't working!"

"_**YEAH, OF COURSE, IT'S NOT WORKING. THIS IS CELESTIAL MANA, DICKHEAD. MOVE. MOVE AWAY. BEFORE YOU DIE, HOLY SHIT!"**_

Jules heard that voice once before—it was the anti-magic demon inside of Asta's grimoire. He sounded terrified. "Celestial mana? Like a god?"

"More like goddess," said Uncle Julius. Uncle Julius used his temporal stasis magic to encase Aubrey, but Jules saw that the time magic was straining. They needed a plan and they needed it fast. "This temple belonged to the Goddess of the Underworld. They were trying to make Aubrey a conduit for the sleeping goddess. Asta, move away from Aubrey at the moment. I've never encountered celestial beings before, so…"

"You don't know how to stop it," said Jules, simply.

"You had better come up with something," yelled Magna, knocking out the last of the cultists. "She's like my kid sister and I don't want to face anyone back home if she dies on my watch."

"I kept one of them awake," said Luck, bloodlust high and eyes very big, smiling creepily, holding the body of one of the enemies. "How do we stop this?"

"Balance," croaked out the man in pure terror.

"What's that mean," demanded Jules, shakily standing up. "Balance?"

"The other half of the Goddess of the Underworld is the God of the Heavens," said Uncle Julius. "Meaning…"

"Exactly right, you would need someone to act as a vessel for the God of the Heavens," said the True Believer, stirring from her fight with Asta. "Unfortunately, you have no one acceptable."

Asta used one of his swords and pointed it at the woman. "What do we need?"

"An innocent boy," said the woman. "I see none here." She sneered at them.

Jules said, "I'll try it."

"What? No. Your mother really will kill me," said Uncle Julius.

"What's innocent," asked Jules, shrugging. "We have to try. Put the God of the Heavens mark on me and we can see if using his mana will calm her down."

"I don't like this," said Uncle Julius, "but we cannot risk Aubrey's life any further. I will take the consequences from your mother. You, Miss, do you know how to put the mark on him?"

The True Believer woman nodded. "I do, but I won't because it won't work. No boy is innocent."

"Lady, I swear to God, you had better put the mark on the Prince right here, right now," said Magna, snarling.

"If it doesn't work, he'll die too," said the True Believer woman.

Jules said, "Let's do this." It didn't matter if he died, if there was something that could do to save Aubrey, and he didn't do it, Jules would never forgive himself. What kind of King would he be to sacrifice someone else's life to save his own? A terrible one and that's not what kind of King Jules intended to be.

"All men fear death," said the woman, "but I respect the courage of you. So I'll do it. As soon as I do it, it'll immediately react to the matching mark on the chosen's arm, so be ready to bring down that time field."

The woman, under Asta and Magna's watchful gaze, did the spell needed on Jules' arm. It was a burning sensation, just like Aubrey described. Uncle Julius dropped the time field and the room filled with the celestial mana again, nearly suffocating everyone with its intensity. Slowly, Jules approached the altar and the burning in his arm got stronger, but he willed himself forward to Aubrey.

He got there and he grabbed her hand. Immediately, his mark and her mark reacted and there was a voice in the back of Jules' mind that sprung forward.

"_I have not been awake in centuries and this is what I wake up to see a young girl in danger by my wife's energy."_

"Does anyone else hear the voice," asked Jules, a little worried.

"_They do not, youngling. I am the God of the Heavens, the creator of this world of magic. But you may call me, ah, ah, I suppose the easiest name would be, Tal. Cal me Tal. Now you mustn't worry. I will stabilize the horrible spell on her. You need to get closer to her."_

Jules was slightly panicking. He was supposedly hearing the God of the Heavens in his head and Uncle Julius, Asta, Magna and Luck were giving him very worried looks. "Okay, how much closer?"

"_The easiest is if you just hold her, then I can stabilize the energy."_

Deciding it was best not to argue with the deity talking to him in his head that he only heard, he lifted Aubrey and got on the stone slab and brought Aubrey into his arms.

"_Very good. Tell everyone to close their eyes and stand behind the boy with Nel's anti-magic swords."_

"Everyone, close your eyes. Stand behind Asta's swords!"

Once everyone was in position, Jules shut his eyes and waited.

And for the second time that day (probably that day), everything went dark.

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**The Capital**  
**Magic Knights Headquarters**  
**The Office of the Wizard King**

"Oh my God, Queen Ophelia is gonna kill us," said Fuegoleon, putting his hands in his head as it was just him and Julius in the room.

Julius grimaced. "Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility."

"Lord Julius, her only son and heir is now the host for the God of the Heavens. And due to that, he can speak to the said god," replied Fuegoleon. "Thank the Heavens, it worked. Aubrey is safe and secure now. What did the god say of her condition to Prince Jules?"

"Basically that Aubrey will live a perfectly normal life since he put the Goddess of the Underworld back to sleep, so to speak. Aubrey just needs to learn to manage the extra mana she was gifted as a result. But…"

Fuegoleon closed his eyes and sighed. "There's always a "but"…"

"If ever the Goddess of the Underworld wakes up with Aubrey as her host, she'll automatically hunt down the host of her husband, the God of the Heavens, to kill him," said Julius rather quickly. "The story goes that the other Old Gods, including the Sun God, the pair's oldest son and our One True God here in Clover, put the pair to sleep because of their epic break-up after the God of the Heavens fell in love with a human, one of his creations."

"Goddamnit."

"Quite."

**Clover Kingdom**  
**Noble Realm**  
**Bantam Towne**  
**Purple Orcas Headquarters**  
**One Month Later**

Aubrey held Con's hand as the Crown Prince of the Clover Kingdom sniffled because his cousin was finally heading back home to the Heart Kingdom to resume his duties as the Crown Prince. Con really didn't want his cousin to go. In truth, Aubrey didn't want Jules to leave, not after everything he did for her.

Jules saved Aubrey's life with great risk to his own without any hesitation (according to Big Bro Magna) and Aubrey was forever grateful. She'd miss her friend.

After the incident with the "being-a-human-vessel-for-a-goddess-and-almost-dying," Aubrey had an increase in her mana reserves which boded well for her Magic Knight career. However, there was a drawback. She was unable to keep her extra mana up for long, causing her to either sleep for days or stay up for days. It was a rather big inconvenience. Due to it, Con was now her full-time minder, instead of the other way around, and monitored her sleeping habits and reported to the Vice-Captain.

Jules rolled his eyes. "Geez, Con, you'll see me again when you come for my mother's birthday party. You've got a big responsibility to be the best Magic Knight you can be and take your duties as Crown Prince seriously."

"I know," said Con, teary-eyed. "I'll miss you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll miss you two," said Jules, pulling his cousin into a hug. "You two take care of each other, watch each other's backs. And Aubrey, don't let Theodora walk all over him."

"You got it," said Aubrey, grinning at Jules. "Write us when you get home! You can tell me all about your super cool Capital City."

"Of course," replied Jules, grinning.

Aubrey said a private goodbye to Jules that had significantly more tears and hugs last night that Aubrey did not want to repeat in front of other people out of pure embarrassment. "We'll see each other again."

"Yeah," said Jules. "Oi! Edward, are you ready yet?!"

"Coming!"

"See you around, you two!"

"Bye, Jules!"

"Bye, cousin!"

_~end (for now)_

_**this part of the story is over as Jules and Aubrey embark on separate paths...for now…**_


End file.
